A New Emotion
by Uniasus
Summary: Every time Adora transforms into She-Ra, there are problems. But that can be fixed. After all, Entrapta's infected the Sword of Protection before. She can do it again.
1. Here Comes The Rain Again

Entrapta sighed, flicking a switch with her hair.

"What's got you so sad, Princess?" Scorpia asked, leaning down to peer at the device Entrapta had in her hand.

"I'm afraid I've hit a roadblock with the Black Garnet. I've run out of ideas on how to make it more powerful. Something is blocking its access to a few runestones."

"It's probably Adora's fault," Catra said. She sat on the floor, arms crossed, sharpening her nails. "She did something with her sword and the princesses' powers."

"Hmmm," Entrapta said. A strand of lilac hair tapped her cheek while another held her recorder up and waiting. "If I stopped Adora from using her sword, do you think that will help?"

Catra pushed herself to her feet eagerly. "Can you do that?"

"I did it before. Accidently. I didn't realize the Frist One's code would corrupt her sword like that."

"Like what?" Catra's glee was mirthful.

"Ooo, do tell," Scorpia said.

Entrapta rewound her recorder. She had to go back months, but found the entry. " _It seems to have infected the tall one. Making her... less tall."_

"I had a disk that planted a virus in my robots, and when She-Re attacked one, the sword got infected too. It made her detransform and 'go weird', according to Glimmer. But I've not seen much of a 'normal' Adora. She was rather on edge at the social experiment,"

"I'll say," Catra interjected.

"And very focused when we came here," Entrapta finished.

"When you say weird," Scorpia asked, "What do you mean?"

"She couldn't stand upright. Her sense of thinking seemed to have disappeared. And this was only after touching the infected sword for thirty seconds!" Entrapta's eyes lit up. "Imagine what might have happened if she held on to it longer!"

"Give me your best guess," Catra purred.

"Maybe she would speak gibberish. Or not be able to walk. Or turn off."

"Turn off? Like die?" Scorpia asked.

On the other side of Entrapta, Catra went stiff.

"No, no," Entrapta said. "Just sleep. When she was first separated from the sword, Adora passed out. A longer contamination period could lead to a longer sleep period."

"Can you replicate what happened last time?" Catra's tail curled languidly behind her as she gave Entrapta a toothy grin.

"Of course!" Entrapta smiled back. "I'd need the original disk, of course. It's still at Dryl, locked in my lab."

"Oh, I think I can get that for you," Catra purred.

####

For having a missing princess, Dryl didn't seem to care too much. Then again, the population was small. The kingdom itself only contained a single mountain, citizen counts couldn't be more than a few hundred, and, judging by the picture of Entrapta Catra snuck by with flowers underneath it, the kingdom believed their Princess was dead.

Interesting, that.

Pity the kingdom was surrounded by those of the Alliance. It would be so easy for the Horde to capture it.

Easy to steal the supplies Entrapta needed too.

Catra found the data crystal right where Entrapta said it would be, held in place on a metal table. The princess really did have the mind of someone from the Horde–always planning and remembering.

She picked up the largest of three pieces, turning the crystal over and over in her hand. It was an innocent looking green, and not much bigger than Catra's hand. To think such a thing could stop Adora from turning into She-Ra... well. Catra was excited to use it.

She grabbed the other data Entrapta requested, files from her computer including video from the robot virus takeover. It should be fun to watch.

####

A week later, Catra stood against a wall in Entrapta's cell-lab. The lilac-haired princess was talking to her recorder, heat shield over her face while she attached metal bits to the data crystal.

"Hey."

Catra startled. For being almost twice her size, Scorpia could be stealthy.

"What?" Catra hissed.

"Ahh, don't be like that." Scorpia pulled Catra into a one-armed hug.

Catra tried to push herself free, but failed. Huffing, she let Scorpia's heavy arm lay over her shoulder. After a moment of both of them watching Entrapta work, Scorpia spoke.

"You sure about this?"

"About what?"

"Hurting Adora."

"Very sure."

"It's just," Scorpia shrugged, "Entrapta has a very large fondness for explosions and fire and things going out of control. Awesome when we want to destroy the Whispering Woods, not so much a person."

Catra gave her friend an _are-you-kidding-me_ look. "You're a Force Captain. I've seen you throw people off boats. You can't tell me you think hurting others is wrong."

"Well, no. This is war and we're fighting to protect Etheria-" Catra scoffed and Scorpia ignored her, "And hurting someone, I don't mind either. That kidnapping missing was fun. But you've never seriously tried to hurt Adora before. And with Entrapta's record, this has a chance of killing her. What changed?"

Catra shoved Scorpia off her. "Adora did. She turned into a prissy, idealistic princess and it's about time she woke up to the realities of the world."

"Which is?"

"You can't rely on others. Only yourself. And if you're not strong enough to hold your own, you might as well shoot yourself with a blaster." Catra was heaving, her tail and ears straight up, claws extended.

Scorpia gave her a hurt look and from the corner of her eye, Catra saw Entrapta's startled face. Catra spun towards the princess. "Get that thing working, fast."

"As fast I can. The sooner I finish, the soon I can begin my experiment-"

Catra didn't hear the rest as she stormed out of the room.

Stupid Scorpia.

Stupid Adora.

One day, Catra would leave Scorpia behind. She already started to as Hordack second in command. And when Entrapta's skills were no longer useful, Catra would dispose of her too. Adora would realize how awful it was to not be on top. To fail, when you expected so much of yourself. To feel helpless, when the shadows of a greater power encircled you. To feel lonely, when past supporters turned to a new ideal.

 _Soon, Adora,_ she snarled, _You'll know what it used to be like for me._

#####

"Experiment 56, success!"

Entraptra's shout broke Catra and Scorpia out from a game of dice.

"It's working?" Scorpia said, eagerly walking over to see.

Catra slinked behind her.

"Look. This other First One's crystal has changed colors and stop operating within normal parameters. Entrapta peered at the devices before her. "The virus travels between First One's tech, but She-Ra's sword didn't get infected until it made direct contact with an infected crystal. Which this now is." Entrapta picked up the sliver of tech and stared at it.

Catra coughed when the silence went on for too long. "So, I'll I have to do it touch this to Adora's sword?"

"While she's She-Ra, yes. That's the only way it'll work." Entrapta grabbed Catra's hand with a piece of her hair, and a measuring tape in another. "I'll haven't made jewelry before, but that's the best option. You can wear a bracelet and then put it on Adora. Ooo, interactions between humans and First One's tech is so interesting. You will record what happens for me, won't you?"

"Oh yeah," Catra agreed. "Because I'm gonna want to watch that happen over and over again."

######

"Bright Moon is going to be more refugee camp than Rebellion headquarters at this rate." Adora pushed aside an overhanging branch as she walked through the Whispering Wood.

Bow, behind her, took over supporting the branch as they moved forward. Glimmer didn't even notice, staring at Adora's back.

"Is that a problem?" she asked Adora.

"It feels a little impractical to keep liabilities near military headquarters." Adora shrugged.

"This isn't the Horde," Bow said, "We're not technically a military group. Just, people."

"I know, it's just..."

"You've never seen them before."

Adora paused for half a second before continuing. "Yeah."

The Horde never talked about the consequences of war, just what the win would look like. She'd never heard of civilians being in the crossfire, or kicked out of homes, or needing supplies. Not until she saw the Horde smash through a small village she had been told was a rebel base. Now, since the Horde had practically destroyed the Whispering Wood, most of the small groups of people who lived there had flooded into neighboring kingdoms. That mean Bright Moon, Plumeria, and Salinas for those who were amphibious.

"Humanitarian aid" was a concept Adora was still trying to wrap her head around. She saw the purpose, and it felt right to her, but at the same time the foreignness of the idea bothered her. In the Horde, you didn't always help your teammates, you ignored strangers, and you sabotaged rivals.

She avoided the tents and half-sturdy shelters when she could. As Adora, she didn't know what to do to help and the sight of sad people made her imagine a life where she was the one who burnt down their homes. As She-Ra, she felt like she lied to them with promises and platitudes.

"They won't get in the way of fighting, if that's what you're worried about," Glimmer said. "Bright Moon has been taking refugees for years. This war has been going on for a long time. Eventually, they'll resettle someplace else. Rebuild."

"And if Bright Moon gets attacked again? We lost the protection of the woods."

"I thought _you_ already had that covered," Bow said. "I saw you pass plans to Queen Angella."

Adora blushed. She'd given the leader of the Rebellion lots of plans, because the presence of so many refugees had disturbed her. How they could help, where they could hide, things they could do. Her mind itched to make the refugees useful, and if not that then out of the way. With people living outside the walls, right up to the edge of the dying woods, it was hard to protect them.

Not wanting to think about it, she harrumphed and speed up.

"Hey!"

In a purple flash, Glimmer teleported to three steps in front of Adora. Facing her, hands on her hips, the princess looked worried and a bit pitying.

Adora looked away. She knew there were parts of Horde life no one from Bright Moon could comprehend, but she didn't like being pitied for her childhood. She'd _liked_ her childhood.

Mostly.

"How big of an issue is this?" Glimmer asked. "Because we are on our way to invite a village to move to Bright Moon."

"Not that big of an issue," Adora admitted. "I do understand. For many people, Bright Moon is the safest place to go. But the castle went from being well into our territory to being on the edge of a war zone, Glimmer. It might not be safe for much longer."

Glimmer crossed her arms. "We'll just have to make sure we take the fight to the Horde."

Coming up next to Adora, Bow placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm with Adora on that one. The Whispering Woods don't offer much protection anymore. That _is_ why we're inviting this village to come. The Horde might be licking their losses, but they came really close to destroying the moonstone. They'll try again. And soon. And if not us, another stone. They went after the Heart Blossom a few months ago, remember?"

"That doesn't mean we should move the refugees-"

"It might," Bow said, "if it was for their safety."

Glimmer nodded. "Yeah, that's true."

"What Bow said," Adora added. Because what he said was true, even if that's not what weirded Adora out about the entire thing.

They continued walking, no longer talking as the oppressive sense of the forest surrounded them. The Whispering Woods used to whisper, but since the Horde has sapped the energy from the planet, the only sounds they heard were the snapping of dry wood and the occasional drip of melting ice. Adora had always found the Woods slightly creepy, not a place to walk through without paying attention, but she'd gladly take that over the current sense of walking through a graveyard.

At least, it was quiet enough they heard someone approaching.

Bow heard it first, snagging Glimmer and Adora's shirts to stop them before lifting a finger to his lips. Adora strained her ears and heard it: the shuffle of dead leaves, a branch snapping, and from another direction the low, growing louder sound of Horde tanks.

Adora pulled out her sword, whispering "For the honor of Grayskull" to trigger her transformation. "It's probably a Horde scout. Bow, take them out. Glimmer and I can teleport to the village to start-"

There was an extra large _crack_ , as if it was a full branch and not a stick that broken under the weight of someone. And then out of the woods, leaping from mid-level branches, came Catra.

"Adora!" Glimmer shouted, lobbing a ball of glitter at Catra's face even as Adora knocked her old friend aside with her sword. In the slight pause Catra's blinded eyes gave them, Adora shifted to stand between the Horde commander and her friends.

"Glimmer, Bow, get the villages to safety."

"But Adora, last time - "

"Adora's right, Glimmer," Bow said. "She-Ra's got the best chance of taking out Catra. We don't have to fight the Horde, just get the villagers a safe distance away. The sooner we do that, the sooner we can come back and help."

"Better go fast," Catra taunted as she got to her feet. "Scorpia loves running things over with a tank."

"Glimmer, Bow, go!" Adora yelled, launching herself at Catra. She got a vague sense of Glimmer teleporting the two of them away, too distracted to check by the way Catra attempted to get under Adora's sword.

Fighting as She-Ra was still a learning period, but after a few months she was thought she was halfway up it. Fighting Catra as She-Ra was a learning curve Adora still felt on the bottom of. As Adora, with similar weapons, the two teens had been fairly matched. But now, with Catra's advantage of being used to her body, with her nimble nature compared to She-Ra's bulk, and claws as a close quarters weapon, Catra usually had the advantage. The best way to one-up Catra was surprise, and Adora didn't have it this fight.

Catra went low, aiming to tangle She-Ra's feet. She-Ra crouched and kicked out, catching Catra's shoulder. The Horde solider rolled away, and She-Ra, unbalanced by the weight of her sword, toppled as well.

In an instant, Catra was sitting on her chest, one knee pressing into the elbow of Adora's sword arm.

"Do you know what this is?" she sing-songed, waving her right hand to show off a bracelet. The red stone pulsed, Adora though it looked vaguely familiar, and then Catra brought her wrist down so the gem made contact with the runestone in the Sword of Power.

A bolt of lightning went through Adora's body, and then she knew no more.

####

Catra watched as the runestone in Adora's sword flashed red. Quickly, she removed her bracelet cuff and transferred it to Adora's wrist. The stone mutated, growing crystals vines that spread –

She was jerked off her feet by a hand grabbing her by the back of her neck and tossing her feet away. Shaking the dizziness from her head, Catra had just a moment to see a charging Adora before a sword tried to take her head off. With a yelp, Catra dodged and leaped up to land in a tree.

It was obvious what Entrapta had meant by "weird" now. She-Ra often gave off a glow and seemed once in a while to overpower Adora. The woman standing below her now certainly held now trace of Adora. Her body gave off a copper glow, her eyes were the startling red of a warning light, and her face was twisted into an expression of malice.

Catra flicked the end of her tail. "Don't like to lose, Adora?"

Wordlessly, She-Ra pointed her sword at Catra. From it burst a beam of red light. Yowling, Catra jumped to a higher tree branch and She-Ra shot at her again. As she watched, Catra noticed the runestone mutation grow. It had completely covered the hilt, inching over Adora's hands, and red veins had appeared on Adora's forearms.

As she watched the First One's virus sprint an inch, Scorpria's words came back to her. _You've never seriously tried to harm Adora, and with Entrapta's track record this has a chance of killing her._

She-Ra gave up trying to blast a jumping Catra and turned her attention to the tree. The truck exploded. Catra found herself thrown to the ground and pain exploded in her left leg. She-Ra had anticipated how she'd fall and struck while Catra was in the air.

She didn't stop either. Catra found herself so occupied with dodging swords, magic blasts, and roots her thoughts turned from _I'm going to beat Adora_ to _she might actually kill me._ And looking at the now red-eyed princess, Catra wasn't sure Adora would recognize the killing. She-Ra swung one brutal, efficient sword swipe after another. She didn't look tired. The red veins inched up Adora's arm. And the entire time She-Ra silently snarled.

That might have been what freaked Catra out the most – her friend's frozen, possessed face. She didn't realize who she was fighting and let loose all of her talent.

A cut to the side. A punch to both sides of her face. A kick to the ribs. A slash the cut halfway through her tail. Catra felt her energy fading fast, the cut on her body stinging with sweat and blood. She'd managed two hits on She-Ra, but both wounds had no effect on the princess. The red claws lines down She-Ra's thigh produced no limp, no slowing down, and no stopping in the relentless assault.

Pain exploded in Catra's head as She-Ra smashed a fist into Catra's temple. At the third such blow, Catra dropped. Her vision was fuzzy, her body ached to the point where the silhouette of She-Ra above her prompted no mental command to move. Through a swollen eye, Catra watched an unflinching She-Ra lift up her sword to drive it into Catra's belly.

 _Her eyes look like Hordack's,_ Catra absently thought.

"ADORA!"

A burst of glitter announced the Bright Moon princess materializing behind She-Ra. She went straight for the blonde princess's sword arm, trying to pry the sword free. Obviously, she guessed what had happened.

She-Ra's blade missed Catra's gut by an inch. With the blade stuck in the ground, She-Ra turned her shoulders and punched the other princess in her face. Glimmer went down. She came back quick, brushing the blood away from a split lip and again appeared at She-Ra's arm.

"Let go of the sword, Adora!"

She-Ra gave no indication she heard, pulling the blade from the earth and turning to now attack Glimmer.

Catra used the distraction to pull herself up. First into a sitting position, then up into the tree. Fleeing felt too much of an effort, but sitting and watching She-Ra hurt Adora's friends? Catra was a million times up for that.

Glimmer held up better against She-Ra than Catra expected. She teleported away from each blow, tossed light in her friend's face. But getting She-Ra to drop the sword got harder and harder. The Frist One's virus had created a crystal gauntlet seamlessly fusing Adora's hand with the sword, and it kept growing. The mutation had almost reached Adora's elbow now; the red veins crept up Adora's neck and to her face.

Absently, Catra wondered what would happen if they reached her forehead. Would the virus have direct access to Adora's brain?

"Bow, help me out!"

Catra turned her head to see the last member of the trio. He held an arrow cocked, aimed at She-Ra.

"I'm trying. She won't stand still. But have you noticed? There's two red crystals. The sword and something else."

"Yes," Glimmer shot back, teleporting out of the way of a sword strike only to appear above She-Ra and deliver a kick down on the crystal casing. She got a punch in the shoulder for her effort.

"Duck!" Bow shouted and Glimmer dropped to the earth.

An arrow burst on She-Ra's hip, sticky goo attaching her left arm to her side and her foot to the ground. Catra leaned forward, curious to see how this would play out. With She-Re immobilized, they had a chance.

"I gotta. Get. This. Off." Glimmer beat at the First One's crystal, while a second arrow of goop prevented She-Ra from moving her other foot.

"How'd you get it off before?" Bow asked as he ran over to hold She-Ra's sword arm still.

"The sword wasn't this affected!" Glimmer picked up a nearby rock and smashed it repeatedly against the gem in the bracelet, not that Catra could see the bracelet anymore. Though she thought she heard a crack.

She-Ra snarled, struggling to wrench her arms free.

"Hold tight, Bow, I'm going to try something."

"Make it quick, because she's almost got her other arm free."

Glimmer took a deep breath, then poured power into the Frist One's crystal at the center of the mutation. She glowed purple, She-Ra went still, then a bright light filled Catra's vision and the sound of shattering glass echoed in her ears.

When she opened her eyes, Adora lay on the grass, red crystal scattered around her. The sword lay two feet away, forgotten as Bow and Glimmer repeatedly shook Adora and called her name.

Catra watched for five minutes. Adora never responded.

She slunk away into the trees.

#####

Catra healed. She went back to the front lines. One battle. Two battle. Three. Four.

She-Ra never appeared.

The Horde gained ground.


	2. Falling On My Head

"For the honor of Grayskull," Glimmer said, lifting the Sword of Protection above her head.

Nothing.

Just like the first time she'd tried it. Or the second. Or the tenth. Or the twenty-fifth.

The sword only responded to Adora, and Adora responded to nothing.

Sighing, Glimmer set the sword down and got started on what she was actually supposed to be doing – helping Adora.

Bright Moon's healers could do very little, as no one was quite sure what the problem was. Breaking the crystal the first time had eliminated the virus, and Glimmer had made sure the piece of it causing this most recent possession had been powderized. Yet still Adora didn't wake.

Now, all their efforts were on making sure Adora's body could be as healthy as it could be.

It'd been weeks, and Adora only ate what broth Glimmer, Bow, or someone else helped her eat. She'd lost muscle, then fat, to the point where she looked worse than one of the refugees staggering into Bright Moon after harsh travel through the edge of Horde land.

Day by day, Adora wasted away. And she would continue to do so until she woke.

She-Ra's absence also came with a toll. The Alliance might be strong now, but the Horde had suddenly gotten better weapons and many kingdom's natural defenses were devastated. It was why refugees had increased to begin with and the numbers kept rising.

Both the number of refugees and the number of the dead.

Glimmer had known She-Ra was strong. Powerful. The key to several victories. But she hadn't realized how much of the Rebellion's military might had rested on her friend's shoulders until it was gone.

Thanks to their new candidness, Angella had confessed that she didn't think the Rebellion could hold much longer. Within a year, she predicted Etheria to be under Horde control.

Glimmer wanted Adora back, but her people _needed_ She-Ra. So again, Glimmer tried to get the sword to react to her. "For the honor of Grayskull."

Like all the times before, when she tried or another princess or Bow or one of the castle guards, the sword did nothing.

If she hadn't run out of tears days ago, Glimmer would have cried.

####

Bow considered himself a high lever beginner in the maker community. Maybe intermediate. Nowhere near Princess Entrapta's skills, when she had been alive. But with her death, and his own visibility with the Alliance, Bow found himself being relied upon more and more for his mechanical tinkering.

The Horde's weapons were getting more explosive; could he make better shields? Something to gunk up faster tanks? Better trackers to predict an attack?

He found himself on the battlefield less and less, even as Glimmer took on more and more strategic roles. Instead, he spent most of his days in Adora's room tinkering with one gadget or another. He needed a quiet space to work, and he didn't feel right leaving Adora alone.

She'd gone pale. Waxy. Bow didn't care how loopy or lacking of self-preservation she'd be, Bow just wanted Adora to wake up. He wanted the faintly red veins on his friend's arm to go away. For placing her sword in her hand to result in a twitch. For her to even move as naturally as turning over in her sleep.

But nothing. Nothing at all.

Between tearing apart Horde tech and building his own, Bow spent time rebuilding the device Catra had clamped onto Adora's arm. It had puzzled him at first, how low tech it was, until he realized that it wasn't a piece of technology at all. It was a thinly hammered piece of metal, a bracelet, and what had affected Adora and She-Ra was the sliver of a First One's data crystal. He would have expected Glimmer's pulverizing of it to wake up Adora, but felt lost when it didn't.

He felt equally as lost dissecting Horde tech.

"I don't understand," he said to Glimmer, voice soft. They always spoke softly in Adora's room. Just in case.

"Don't understand what?"

"All this tech, it looks like what Entrapta used to build. Since she, since she died, has anyone gone back to Dryl?"

"I think Perfuma did." Glimmer tilted her head, thinking. "She offered to take in those who wanted to leave, now that Dryl was princess-less. It's a small kingdom, but surrounded by other kingdoms and not in huge danger. Though I can imagine it would be annexed into another kingdom eventually. There was no one left after Entrapta."

Bow sat silently for a moment in honor of their fallen friend, before continuing his train of thought. "These look like Entrapta's designs. I think there's a big chance someone from the Horde is in Dryl, or went there to steal information."

Glimmer frowned. "You're probably right. Ug." She fell backwards, clutching at her head. "I should have thought of that last month."

Bow reached out and patted her knee. "You can act on that thought later. But what I'm trying to say is, if the Horde stole information from Entrapta's computers, we need to get it too. It'll help me figure out this new tech they have, and hopefully, I can find some of her old notes about," his gaze drifted to Adora, "what happened last time."

They both went silent.

"I'll see if we can leave tomorrow," Glimmer said. "The sooner we get to Dryl, the better. I'll see if someone will look after Adora while we're gone."

####

Dryl had been slightly depressing before, Glimmer would admit, but it felt worse now. No one greeted them, but the still active robots had kept the castle clean. The effect was a very sterile museum. Or mausoleum, Glitter amended when they came to the first hallway cross roads.

A portrait hung across from them. It showed a young Entrapta, thirteen or so, smiling with two robots behind her. The king and queen of Dryl had both lost their lives in the first half of the war with the Hordak. They'd been the first serious loss of the Rebellion, and Dryl the first kingdom to succeed from the Princess Rebellion.

Glimmer tried not to think about how Dryl's final fall might be a negative turning point too.

There was an odd collection of items beneath the portrait. The wilting flowers were a surprise, Glimmer thought the robots would have cleaned them, and also a small collection of robot parts. Gifts from the robots or more appropriate than flowers from lingering citizens, Glimmer had no idea.

"I feel bad," Bow said. "I didn't bring anything."

"What about an arrow? Do you have a sonic one?"

"I do, actually." Bow pulled it out and laid it on the ground amongst the other memorial items.

Glimmer had lost a lot of people to this war. Parents, friends, extended family. But none of them quite hurt the way Entrapta's lost did. Probably because the Alliance, in a way, traded Entrapta's life for Glimmer's.

She pciked a hallway and marched down it, Bow shouting from behind asking her to slow down.

One of the things Glimmer hated about the war was how you had to balance lives. Her mom did it, Adora did it, but Glimmer had a hard time thinking the same way. Unless it was those of Horde soldiers.

"Are you upset?" Bow asked, reaching her.

"I…" Glimmer sagged, her anger melting away as she stopped. "Guilty, I think."

"What happened to Entrapta wasn't your fault. We all knew the risks. We all volunteered."

Glimmer still wasn't sure she had been worth those risks, that loss. Entrapta's loss destroyed a whole kingdom.

"Hey." Bow slung an arm around Glimmer's shoulders. "All of this is the Horde's fault. Entrapta death, Adora's condition. And we'll beat them. Because we're awesome."

Glimmer sniffled, running a hand under her nose. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right. Let's go find Entrapta's lab."

The hallway was like others they passed through. Cold, clean. Lined with portraits. There one was full of Entrapta holding up various robot animals. A cat. Dog. Squirrel. What looked to be a very aggressive octopus. But eventually, landmarks sparked in her brain. Together, she and Bow turned corner after corner until they come across a large steel door.

It was ten inches thick. And they knew that because it was open.

"Shit." Glimmer hurried forward to peak into the lab. The Horde had been here, but it didn't look like they destroyed things. At least, the computers still gave off a warm hum.

Bow went straight for the computer terminal. They didn't have computers in Bright Moon, not like this at least, but some families had personal tech. Bow's dad were scavengers, gathering old Horde technology and doing what they could with it, so he had some idea of how to navigate Entrapta's machine. Glimmer left him to it.

Instead, she looked around the room.

She remembered lots of recorders lying around. They were gone. Above, where creepy robots hung suspended, there were a few gaps. There was a large pile of rock and scrap parts, the result of the explosion months ago last time Glimmer was there. Someone, probably Entrapta, had started to organize it. And on the other side-

"Bow!" she shouted.

Glimmer thought the original First One's data crystal had been destroyed, but here the majority of it laid. It pulsed an angry red, crystal vines digging into the scrap parts around it. So far, nothing it touched seemed affected by the virus, which she was thankful for.

"Why did it activate?" Bow asked, reaching out to touch it only to be blocked by an energy shield. "Oh yeah, it was all about self-defense. We only managed to get if off Adora because she was so covered in goo she couldn't fight."

Glimmer eyed the crystal. "Would that work again?" She needed to destroy it. Pulverize it. Turn it into sand so she could go home and see Adora look at her and smile.

"Maybe? It doesn't look like it has anything to defend itself with right now. Just the shield." As Bow spoke, he pushed tech away in an ever-widening circle. The few parts the crystal had attached to rattled, but didn't move. Still, Bow made sure to keep his fingers away from anything that might snap close.

"What if I just hit it really hard?"

"How hard? Glimmer, what are you doing?!"

"Stand back, Bow!"

Glimmer pulled out her father's staff, then teleported into the air ten feet above the crystal. Using the force of gravity and her own body weight, she slammed the end of the staff into the crystal. For a brief moment, her staff hit the shield and stopped. Glimmer forced her magic into it. The staff shimmered. The shield broke and tinkered to the floor.

When Glimmer's staff hit the crystal, she was instantly propelled backwards by a small explosion. She tumbled into Bow, who caught her and rolled. When the ringing in her ears stopped, she pushed herself up. "Is it destroyed?"

She ran over to check, Bow at her heels.

"It's no longer glowing," Bow pointed out. "I think the virus part stopped."

Glimmer swung her staff back. "So I can fully destroy it then?"

"Hit away."

She pounded at it. With each crack of the crystal she imagined Adora's eyes fluttering, taking a deep breath and waking up. How as the red faded from the crystal, the pink would creep back into Adora's skin. When she was done, crystal blasted with brute force and moonstone magic, Glimmer was hunched over and heaving.

"You done?"

Glimmer turned to look at Bow, who flinched back.

"No." She glared. "Do you have an exploding arrow, because after that, I'll be done. And then we are scattering this powder all over Etheria."

"I'm saving the exploding arrow for the lab."

Glimmer growled. Bow threw his hands up as if holding off one of the Whispering Wood's giant insects.

"Easy! But this whole place has to be destroyed. I checked the logs, someone did come before us and they took a lot of Entrapta's files. They've been replicating her work, building off of it, for the Horde. We have to make sure if they, or anyone else comes back, they'll find nothing. _Including_ the remains of that crystal. Or at least, what was here."

Right. Because she remembered the crystal being a three-pointed star, and they had only found two points. Someone had the third point, most likely the Horde. Glimmer prayed it was ineffective now that the rest of it was damaged. She wanted to teleport right to Adora's room and check, but even with the boost of power all the princesses in the Alliance had noticed after touching the Sword of Protection, she couldn't travel that far in a blink.

She sighed. "Okay. Let's destroy the lab."

Bow pulled out the designated arrow. "I planned for this, so it will blow up extra big. I mixed the chemicals myself."

"I trust your arrows, Bow. I'm sure it'll be enough to make sure none of this falls into more Horde hands."

They walked out, Bow pausing in the doorway to load an arrow. "Once I hit the power, things will start exploding fast."

Glimmer stepped closer. "I'll get us out of here as soon as things start going _boom._ "

Taking a deep breath, Bow released his arrow. It struck true, and the generator powering all the computers and screens went _fhoom._ Glimmer felt the heat on her face before she teleported Bow and herself out of there.

They ended up in the courtyard of Dryl, the cascading explosions muffled but still in range, surrounded by robots responding to the noise. Cleaning robots rushed towards the lab, others went slower with arms full of parts that might be needed for repairs. One or two had first aid supplies. Glimmer guessed explosions had been pretty common when Entrapta was alive, and she had programed her robotic staff to bring her repair and recovery supplies.

Thankfully, none of the robots seemed to mind Glimmer and Bow. After half a minute, a deep rumbling sound reached their ears. The castle crumbling, Glimmer guessed. The first time they had been here, they'd brought down the ceiling of the lab. No doubt, Bow's exploding arrow took out more now.

A part of Glimmer twinged. Dryl was a dead kingdom, and she'd just helped destroyed the only significant bit left of it. But a damaged castle was worth an intact Etheria.

"Ready to go?" Bow asked.

"Yeah."

#####

Glimmer sat in the window seat of Adora's room, staring out but seeing nothing. Destroying the majority of the crystal had helped: Adora's color was better, she breathed more deeply, her body responded well to more substantial food, and occasionally she did twitch her fingers.

She still slept though. And she still wasted away, simply more slowly than before.

The only thing left to do was sneak into the Fright Zone, find the other piece of the crystal, and destroy it, but Glimmer didn't know where to start.

And Angella had said… had said…

 _You need to accept the fact that Adora will die._

Sobbing, Glimmer thrust her head into the space between her knees and stomach.

She'd give _anything_ to heal Adora. _Anything._

#####

It had been a full month since Catra last saw Adora. She saw Glimmer. Bow. They both fought fiercely, especially against her. Righteous anger, Catra supposed. After all, she had infected their friend with a First One's virus.

And Adora was still infected.

 _This could kill her._

Scorpia's warning circled Catra's head at least once a day, but no one in the Rebellion had sworn at Catra for killing She-Ra so she assumed the virus had done what it had been supposed to. Stop Adora from transforming.

Except, she knew Adora. Or liked to think she did. With or without turning into She-Ra, she'd be on the battlefield.

Only halfway paying attention, Catra watched Entrapta poke the glowing First One's crystal. It had dimmed a few days ago, but still glowed, and the princess was trying to figure out why.

"I thought I had dismantled its connection to the rest of the crystal. I knew the crystal could communicate with pieces outside itself, but I always assumed there was a range limit. Though, the crystal on the bracelet still worked in the Whispering Woods when Catra put in on Adora. Was that father than Dryl? I must find a map!" Her hair replicated hands, one a fist pounding into the flat palm of another. Then Entrapta scurried away to the desk in the lab's corner filled with paper work.

Catra lashed her tail, staring at the glowing crystal. What _had_ it done to Adora? Was she constantly loopy, like in the video from Dryl? Kept out of the fight for her own protection? Had the aggressive nature from the Woods not worn off, so she was kept chained in a cell? Could she not tell friend from foe? Entrapta seemed convinced the crystal's actions were driven by self-defense, if you expected everything to hurt you, you could drive yourself to exhaustion pretty quickly. Had Adora turned into a paranoid, violent woman hidden away for the safety of all? Being put through training to not hit princesses?

"I brought cake!" Scorpia walked into the lab, a tray in hand, covered with an arrangement of tea cakes in various shades of red.

Entrapta squealed in delight and rushed over, already stuffing them in her mouth. Catra watched, tail twitching agitatedly.

"Don't you want one, Catra?" Scorpia asked. "I helped Cook make them myself."

"No." Catra turned back to the pulsing data crystal. A minute later, she felt Scorpia step next to her.

"Have just one cake? I don't think I've seen you eat in the past two days."

Catra grabbed one and stuffed it in her mouth whole.

"Oh, look at your puffy cheeks!"

Catra glared at the Force Captain, glad Scorpia's pinchers saved her from pinched cheeks. "There. I ate."

"Thank you. You're worrying me, just a little bit."

Catra scoffed. "Don't."

"We're friends. I'm allowed to worry. Just like your worried about Adora."

"I'm not-"

"You are." Scorpia leaned forward into Catra's space, a big smile on her face. "I think it's cute. But," Scorpia's face fell. "I know you have a real reason to worry."

Together, they looked at the data crystal.

"I don't," Catra insisted.

"She-Ra hasn't shown up in a month-"

"Which means it's working." Catra turned on the other woman, hissing with her hair standing on end.

Scorpia frowned at her, disappointed, and Catra resisted the desire to slink away. Instead, she lifted her chin.

"I. Am. Not. Worrying."

"Then prove it by coming to dinner with me in the mess."

Catra flicked her tail, back and forth, back and forth. Eventually, she caved. "Fine."

Dinner would be a good distraction.

####

"RAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

The teleporting princess came out of nowhere, causing Catra to duck and roll to avoid getting skulled by a staff. She mostly made it; Glimmer's staff came down midway through her tail. Catra yowled in pain.

Glimmer gave Catra no reprieve, kicking her in the lower back. The shift in the princess's weight allowed Catra to pull her tail free. No longer restricted, she rolled forward, avoiding Glimmer's next kick, and pushed herself up in a crouch with her claws extended.

The princess teleported, straight behind Catra, who expected it and dodged left. She managed to swipe Glimmer's arm, drawing blood, but the princess didn't seem to notice. She snarled at Catra, more animal like then Catra on an average day.

But what really caught Catra's attention was Glimmer's red eyes. Sure, something in the air could have bothered her, but paired with Glimmer's simmering anger Catra pegged the cause as angry tears.

Catra's mind flashed to Adora. Who, again, wasn't on the battlefield. Who, Catra's suddenly hiccupping heart wondered, might be dead.

It was a split-second thought, a microsecond of fear, and Glimmer took advantage of it. Catra's head exploded with light as the princess slammed the end of her staff into Catra's temple. When she woke up after the three-second blackout, Catra found herself on her back, Glimmer sitting on her chest, and Glimmer's hand uncomfortably pressed into her throat.

"Is there a piece of a First One's data crystal in the Fright Zone?" Glimmer spat.

Catra yanked at Glimmer's hand. She could still breath, but hated the idea of being pinned by a sparkly princess.

Glimmer pressed her hand in. "Is there?"

"Did it do something to Adora?" Catra forced herself to smirk.

In answer, Glimmer punched her with a glittery punch. The magic didn't do much, just make stars literally appear in Catra's vision, but the force behind the punch would give Catra a black eye.

"I'll take that as a yes," Catra said.

With another yell, Glimmer delivered another punch. She paused where her fist cocked back for a third punch. "You will destroy that data crystal. As soon as you get back."

"And if I don't?" Catra kept her voice bland.

"Then, then..."

Those red eyes were very much the result of tears. Because the Princess above her was shedding them now. Slowly, reluctantly, doing her best to not cry in front of an enemy, but Glimmer was crying nonetheless.

"I know you two aren't friends anymore," Glimmer whispered, "but if you don't destroy that piece of First One's tech _today_ then Adora won't last the week."

You don't show weakness in the Horde, but something must have shown on Catra's face because Glimmer unclenched her fist. Her face, while not going _soft_ became less scowlly.

"I know this is war. People die." Glimmer brought both her hands to rest on her thighs and Catra took in a big gulp of air as the princess went on. "But we always do what we can to protect those close to us. Important to us. And I will do a lot for Adora. I'll beg, if you want me to. Be your prisoner again in the Fright Zone. As long as you destroy that data crystal."

When Glimmer brought up hand to brush at the tears falling down her face, Catra bucked up to dislodge her. Free of the princess's weight, Catra scrambled away as fast as she could into a nearby tree.

Glimmer didn't follow. She stood in the small clearing, staring at Catra. " _Please."_

"I don't have any First One's tech," Catra spat out before disappearing.

She didn't want to see Glimmer's reaction to that.

#####

"How do you think Entrapta would react if I asked her to destroy the crystal?" Catra asked Scorpia in the tank home.

"Why not just destroy it yourself?"

Catra huffed, tail twitching. "She fixed it the first time it was destroyed. I don't want that to happen again."

"It really did hurt Adora, didn't it?" Scorpia sounded way sadder than she should. As far as Catra knew, Scorpia and Adora had never meet. And Adora was Horde Enemy number one right now.

Catra didn't give the Force Captain an answer.

"Entrapta will want a reason why," Scorpia said. "You'll have to come up with a good one."

 _So Adora doesn't die_ was a good reason, but it wasn't a Horde reason. And it wasn't an Entrapta one either. Of all the princess's Catra had met, Entrapta was the one most similar to the idea of them the Horde told recruits. Cold, calculating, monstrous, and out of control. Entrapa didn't have powers that got out of hand, but her way of looking at human life so objectively, so lacking of standard morals...it was a wonder she hadn't been picked up by the Horde before.

To Entrapta, Adora dying wasn't a reason a stop. It was a reason to _study effects._ Adora's death wasn't a knife in the heart, but data on paper.

Catra didn't realize she'd curled her fist in her hand until Scorpia covered it with her pincher.

The truth is, Catra doesn't want Entrapta to destroy the crystal. _She_ wants to do it. The more the idea sits in her head, the larger it becomes. No doubt, the Rebellion had destroyed the crystal pieces they could get their hands on. Why couldn't Catra do the same? Punch it, burn it, stomp on it.

She didn't have magic powers. Or knowledge of explosions. Her body was built for slashing and the thing seemed to have its own defenses. The crystal had to be 100% destroyed. The consequences of otherwise were too high. And it had to happen now. The sooner it was destroyed, the best.

"You know," Scorpia said. Her voice drew Catra's gaze away from the softly pulsing crystal, to Scorpia's thinking face and hint of a smile. "It's hard to tell now, with what the Horde did to it, but we are on a lava field and near a volcano. When I was little, I liked to drop things in the lava flow. Most of its covered, Hordak uses it to power the facilities, but we might be able to find a crack or two if my memory is right."

Catra blinked at her.

"Want to run an experiment?" the other woman said, "See the effects of lava on a First One's data crystal?"

#####

They didn't actually find out the effects of lava on First One's data crystals. They had watched the thick lava slowly flow over it, taking it from sight, and prayed the heat and pressure melted it down. Catra wished she could be _sure_ about its destruction. A lack of knowing made her bite her lips, absently dig her claws into her own forearm.

Scorpia dealt with Entrapta's hysterics about the missing crystal, something about a friendly rat liking it, and tried to calm her down by reminding Entrapta had a backup of the code, at least.

Catra dealt with the painful _please_ bouncing around her chest.

#####

A loud, sharp gasp pulled Glimmer from her fitful sleep. Instantly, she sat up and turned her attention to Adora. An Adora whose pale skin slowly turned pink, whose eyelids fluttered before lifting.

"Gl'mr?"

Glimmer pressed her face into Adora's chest and sobbed.

Adora made noises of protest and Glimmer quickly pulled back. She could cry later. Adora would need medicine, water, and -

Bow stepped up. Like Glimmer, he'd been sleeping in Adora's room the past few days.

"Here," he pressed the glass of water into Glimmer's hand. "You get her to drink that. I'll get the healers."

Glimmer didn't even thank him, to focused on a fitful Adora. Gently, she lifted Adora up and then teleported behind her for support. She held the glass to Adora's lips, who eagerly drank it. "Go slow, Adora."

"Not sick," she answered, even as her hands trembled as she tried to reach for the glass.

"Yes, you are. And I'm going to take care of you. I don't care what you would have done in the Fright Zone but here...here..." Glimmer bowed her head, resting it on Adora's thin shoulder. "I want to help you. I need to help you. Please let me," she whispered.

"Okay," Adora whispered back after a moment.

Glimmer took in two deep breaths, _Adora was alive Adora was alive,_ and then went back to helping her friend drink. She didn't step away when the healers came. Or when Adora fell asleep. Or when Bow brought her dinner they could share while Adora slept.

Much later, as Adora slept and Bow snored on the floor, Glimmer finally had the ability to pull herself away from Adora. She didn't go far, just to the window and looked east.

The words wouldn't lift off her tongue, but she made sure to form them in her mind. _Thank you, Catra._

Then, Glimmer eased herself onto the bed next to Adora, curling around her friend and endlessly relieved to feel Adora snuggle closer.


End file.
